Overheard at Watkins Glen – Saturday
The "Marlboro Experience" is in the Watkins Glen midway. We've reviewed both the legislation and FDA rule. Without question, the inclusion of an interactive display at a sporting event violates the spirit and intent of the law and the rule (which went into effect on June 22nd).
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| The Marlboro experience at The Glen |
What is so unusual is that Philip Morris was the most "responsible" amongst "Big Tobacco" after the 1998 MSA.
So much for Uncle Sam trying to protect kids from Big Tobacco…..
07/03/10 Another beautiful day at Watkins Glen Saturday where the IndyCars were preparing for qualifying for Sunday's big race. A lot of talk in the paddock was about anticipation on what the soon-to-be announced new IndyCar chassis rules will be. We spoke to a number of team owners about this and ask them what did they want to see in the new car. Cost was the number 1 key item. Everyone is concerned about the cost of the new cars and the inventory of parts they will need to stock, rendering all their existing inventory obsolete…….One team owner said, "the value has to be there for me to be able to justify buying all new equipment. We are not a front running team and if there is never any focus on us by the series or by the TV then we get no exposure for our sponsors. I don't really think the car is what is wrong with this series. A new car might bump the TV ratings up a tenth of a point or two."…….Another team owner felt that a good overall package was important, "It must have the right amount of performance, right downforce, it must look good, it must be easy to work on and it must not allow the 'rich' teams to make any modifications to any part whatsoever. They have the deep pockets to do that kind of stuff and that has been the cancer of this series all along. It drives up cost for everyone and results in the same two teams winning all the races……..Another team owner thought that sound was also important. "F1 blows your socks off with the sound, it is mind-blowing. NASCAR cars also have a great sound. These cars used to sound sick, but now they sound better but are so muffled by the darn mufflers they don't excite anyone." ……We heard some talk of moving the existing IndyCars to the Lights series but with a less powerful engine so the drivers coming into IndyCar are better prepared for IndyCar and the team owners can better judge if they are good enough. However, cost was a concern – parts to repair crash damage of an IndyCar are simply more money than the current Light car…….Speaking of moving up to IndyCar from Lights, we hear 23 year old Indy Lights star James Hinchcliffe from Canada is ready to make the move up and is already talking to several teams with things looking very promising. Whether he can continue to do TV and radio announcing and do Indy Cars at the same time is questionable, but he hopes to have that as a career when he retires from racing. He is very good BTW, if you have not heard him……Stefan Wilson on the other hand, who is a rookie this year in Indy Lights, feels he needs another year of Indy Lights under his belt before he is ready to join his older brother Justin in the big cars……Word is what caused EJ Viso to crash in the morning practice was the fact that he bent the skid block on the car when he transitioned from the asphalt runoff area to the grass – the skid block folded under and got his car airborne long enough that Viso was along for the ride and he whacked the Armco clear on the other side of the track. The car was done for the weekend and the KV Racing team did not have time to finish preparing the backup car so he set no time in afternoon qualifying, and hence will start dead last on Sunday. Mark C. reporting from Watkins Glen